Ikea expands paid leave to all staff with no wage or work-hour restrictions

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Dive Brief:

Swedish furniture retailer Ikea is giving all employees paid parental leave — no matter how many hours they work, reports Fortune. The company is making paid parental leave available to both salaried and hourly workers.

Ikea’s 14,000 U.S. workers will get as much as four months of paid parental leave starting Jan. 1. The benefit covers mothers, fathers and adoptive and foster parents. Ikea’s policy expands on a previous one that gave new parents five days of paid leave and eight weeks of paid disability leave for new mothers, says Fortune.

Ikea will give employees with at least one year of service their full base pay for the first six weeks of leave and half their base pay for six additional weeks. Workers with three or more years onboard will receive eight weeks of full pay and eight additional weeks of half pay. The company provides eight weeks of short-term disability regardless of years of service.

​Dive Insight:

Ikea’s paid leave policy reportedly originates from its Swedish roots. Unlike much of Europe, the U.S. is one of the few industrial nations that doesn’t provide paid leave as a national policy. Ikea’s generous paid leave benefits allow it to compete with like-minded companies for the best talent. Expanding the policy was a smart recruitment and retention strategy.

Paid leave, especially on a federal level, might not sit well with President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration. Republicans generally view paid leave as a financial burden on companies, most of whom are small businesses. Small companies lack the resources of an international retailer like Ikea, but they might be able to offer a similar policy on a smaller scale.